Morgan survives, Mansfield damaged by storm

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Morgan County residents received a fright last Friday: severe thunderstorms followed by a tornado warning came through mid-day, prompting sirens to wail.
Morgan County Emergency Management Director Gwen Ruark said a tornado was spotted along the Newton-Morgan county line.
“A funnel cloud was spotted taking the same path as the April 11, 2011 storms,” she said.
Ruark said the county did not sustain any damage. She and the Morgan County Fire Department as well as the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office drove around looking for damage but did not find any.
“The storm dissipated as it traveled through Morgan County,” she said. “It turned into a severe thunderstorm warning.”
She explained that citizens need to be prepared.
“It’s that time of year,” she said. “We’re going to get these storms.”
Ruark said she was concerned because so many people rely on the sirens.
“Sirens are designed to alert those outside,” she said. “They’re not always going to hear them if they’re inside.”
She encouraged people to tune in to radio and TV stations, and to sign up for the county’s Code Red by calling 706-342-1200. In particular, she suggested a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio.
Also, Ruark said that people should be cautious of thunderstorms: “There’s a possibility it can turn into a tornado warning very quickly.”

Printed in the April 25, 2013 edition.

By Patrick Yost
Editor

A brazen Rutledge carjacking may be linked to a larger car theft ring, authorities said Tuesday.
On Sunday, April 21, at approximately 3:20 p.m., a Walter Shephered Road man reported that while he was working on his lawnmower, a black male pulled into his driveway and jumped from a tan van driven by a black female. The male jumped into the man’s 2014 Honda CRV and fled, allegedly attempting to run over the victim, who was trying to halt the theft.
The victim and his son then pursued the man in a red Jeep Cherokee into Walton County. Moments after the theft, reports state, the black male stopped the Honda, and when both father and son exited the Jeep, the man pointed a gun at them and ordered them to run into the woods. The victim told authorities he had left a .25 caliber Taurus handgun in the Honda before it was stolen. The man allegedly told the father and son to not report the theft "or he would kill them," reports state.
The man then abandoned the Honda and took the Jeep. The Honda was recovered at the scene and transported to the Morgan County Public Safety Center and processed for evidence.
According to Capt. Chris Bish, Morgan County Sheriff's Office, the Jeep and two other vehicles reported stolen in Walton County, were located in Atlanta by Atlanta Police Department officers. All three vehicles were processed for evidence and returned to their owners.
Bish said the tan van was located near the Department of Natural Resources fisheries area south of Rutledge. That vehicle had been reported stolen from College Park.
Bish said the victim reported that on Tuesday, prior to the carjacking, a suspicious vehicle had pulled into his driveway, stopped and then pulled away. Bish said authorities suspect the perpetrator may have been identifying the Honda at the address. "He believes that the individual came to his driveway on Tuesday."

By Patrick Yost
Editor

An employee at Madison Muffler and Brake made a gruesome discovery last Thursday as he was leaving work.
The body of Ricky Terrell, 56, Madison, was found in the front passenger seat of a pick-up truck in the parking lot of the business, located on Eatonton Highway.
According to Det. Wes Thompson, Madison Police Department, the employee noticed the deceased man at approximately 5:45 p.m. The pick-up truck, which was waiting for repair work, was parked next to the employee’s vehicle.
Thompson said authorities have not determined a cause of death but he also said foul play is not suspected.
The investigation was released to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Thompson said. Thompson also said it is not clear how long Terrell had been in the truck or when he had died.

Printed in the April 25, 2013 edition.

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

The bombings in Boston last Monday affected a former Morgan County resident: Amanda Vernon lives and works there.
Vernon said she had the day off for Patriot’s Day and noted that day also is traditionally Marathon Monday.
She was riding “The T,” Boston’s mass transit system, when the bombs went off.
“They basically stopped us underground for a while before suspending mass transit,” she said, adding that she and the other passengers were let off near where the marathoners were stopped.
“There was a giant crowd of people,” she said. “I was by myself. I didn’t know what was going on.”
She decided to try to find a bridge to cross into Cambridge, not realizing she was heading toward the bombing site.
Not only were there transit riders and marathoners, Vernon said she also saw SWAT team members everywhere as well as a lot of dogs, and about 15 ambulances.
“There certainly were a lot of police officers because of the marathon,” she said, adding that the curious thing was the helicopters. “Law enforcement pretty quickly established a perimeter.”
She didn’t have cell service because the service providers were completely overloaded, she said.
“It was a bit scary.”

The next couple of days were “relatively really normal,” she said.
“Everyone was a little shaken but determined to carry on and have business as usual,” she said.
That changed again late Thursday: around 10:48 p.m. that day there was an incident at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where Vernon works in a lab.

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Members of the Madison Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) voted unanimously to nominate four buildings to the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s Places in Peril program.
HPC Staff Ken Kocher said the Trust has requested nominations and will choose 11 from across the state.

Kocher suggested three possibilities for the HPC to consider nominating.
The first possibility, the Foster-Thomason-Miller House at 498 S. Main St., has been in a state of deterioration for the last 10 years, he said.

The second possibility, the Mapp-Gilmore Funeral Home at 200 W. Washington St., recently was the subject of an HPC meeting in which the owner of the building, Kathi Russell, sought to demolish the current structure and replace it with a similar building.
The third possibility, the Calhoun House at 850 Kolb St., is most in need, according to HPC member Joe Smith.

HPC member Stratton Hicky suggested they consider nominating the double-pen house at 406 S. Fourth St.

Commissioners also discussed a recent letter to the editor written by Dick Hodgetts of Madison and printed in the April 4 edition of the Morgan County Citizen.
Kocher read the letter and added that he had contacted Hodgetts to invite him to their April meeting. Hodgetts was unable to attend that meeting but has agreed to attend the May meeting, according to Kocher.

By Patrick Yost
Editor

Capt. Chris Bish, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, called it “mind-boggling.”
On Tuesday, investigators with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office issued arrest warrants for two Morgan County men who allegedly stole three vehicles from the victims of an April 5 Sabrina Lane fire.

According to Bish, officers are searching for Freddie Labon, 27, Madison, and Arthur Binion, 51, Madison, after they allegedly orchestrated the theft of three cars from the lot of a Sabrina Lane house while one of its residents, who was in the fatal house fire, was attempting to recuperate in the hospital. Labon will be charged with one count of party to a crime and Binion will be charged with three counts of theft by deception.

The fire, which claimed the life of 70-year-old Jannie Jackson, also damaged two vehicles. Bish said on Thursday, April 11, while Jannie Jackson’s sister was still hospitalized with burns from the fire, she received a call from a neighbor that a tow truck had picked up two vehicles from the lot. A third vehicle was missing later, the neighbor reported.

Josephine Jackson contacted Morgan County authorities from her hospital bed and stated that she had not given anyone permission to move the vehicles.

Bish said that investigators located the three vehicles in a tow company impound lot on Flat Rock Road. He said investigations revealed that Labon and Binion had contacted the company and told them that they had three vehicles for sale for scrap. Bish said that the company allegedly paid Binion and Labon $850 for the three cars and removed them.

"These two individuals conjured up this scheme to deprive the ladies of these cars under these circumstances," he said. "One person has passed and one lady is suffering burns in the hospital."